Bessemer mayoral candidate Kenneth Gulley raised
more than $20,000 in cash contributions lead­ing up to the Oct. 5
runoff election, according to campaign finance re­cords.

Candidates in the Oct. 5 runoff election in Bessemer, who raised more
than $1,000 in contributions, were supposed to file campaign fi­nance
disclosures by Thursday. Only Gulley's disclosure forms were on file in
the county's probate office Thursday evening.

Gulley faces incumbent Mayor Ed May in the runoff election.

Gulley began the reporting period with $1,776. He then raised $20,350
in cash. Gulley's largest contribu­tion, $3,000, came from Premiere
Aviation Group. Premiere Aviation is the former manager of the Besse­mer
Airport. The company's lease agreement with the Bessemer Air­port
Authority was terminated last month after it failed to make rental
payments.

Gulley also received $4,000 from three political action committees with ties to gambling.

Talladega PAC, Race PAC and Brother PAC, all chaired by John Teague,
contributed to Gulley's campaign. Those political action committees all
received money from Gateway Gaming of South Car­olina, a casino game
vendor, and from the Poarch Band Creek Indi­ans that operate three
gambling complexes in Alabama.